by Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., Childrens Health Defense:
The USAID gave roughly $473 million to the “Internews Network,” a secretive global non-governmental organization that allegedly supported online censorship efforts, according to documents released by WikiLeaks.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) gave roughly $473 million to a “secretive” nonprofit organization that supported efforts to censor social media users, according to documents released by WikiLeaks.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
This news comes less than a week after President Donald Trump cut major funding to USAID amid revelations the organization financed groups, including some media outlets, that engaged in smear campaigns and censorship against dissident voices.
WikiLeaks is a multinational organization founded by Julian Assange that specializes “in the analysis and publication of large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying and corruption.”
“USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, ‘Internews Network’ (IN), which has ‘worked with’ 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and ‘training’ over 9000 journalists (2023 figures).
“IN has also supported social media censorship initiatives.”
USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, “Internews Network” (IN), which has “worked with” 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and “training” over…
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 8, 2025
Internews Network has 30 international offices, including headquarters in Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Kyiv, Bangkok and Nairobi.
According to its website, the organization is a nonprofit that supports “independent media” in over 100 countries. “We train journalists and digital rights activists, advance internet freedom, and offer business expertise to help media outlets become financially sustainable.”
However, WikiLeaks suggested that some Internews Network activities may be linked to efforts to influence media narratives and regulate information flow on social media.
During the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Annual Meeting, Internews President Jeanne Bourgault called on the global advertising industry to back what she called the “good news and information” to deal with “disinformation.”
“Disinformation makes money,” she said, “We need to follow that money. … You can work really hard on inclusion lists or exclusion lists to sort of really try to focus ad dollars and challenge the global advertising industry all around the world to focus our ad dollars towards the good news and information.”
According to documents released by WikiLeaks, Bourgault receives roughly $451,000 annually. She formerly worked for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and directed USAID’s Office of Democratic Initiatives, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Read More @ ChildrensHealthDefense.org
